ALL YOU NEEDTO KNOWFIH HOCKEY NATIONS CUPSOUTH AFRICA 2022
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PRESIDENT’SMESSAGE
Dear All,
Welcome to the inaugural season of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup!
This brand-new event created by the International
Hockey Federation (FIH) is not only a gateway tothe subsequent FIH Hockey Pro League for thewinning team; it is also a top-flight tournament
for some of the best teams in the world, ranked
just underneath the current Pro League nations.
Therefore, expect nothing else than outstanding
hockey during the whole tournament!
Potchefstroom welcomed the very first FIH Hockey World Cup played on African soil earlier this year,
namely the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup. It was a truly remarkable event. All team members
and officials went back home with fond memories. We’re very much looking forward to enjoying thewonderful hospitality of Potchefstroom again!
On behalf of FIH and in my personal name, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to the South African Hockey Association and the North-West University of Potchefstroom for organising this event withso much passion and dedication.
I’d also like to thank all participating National Associations, athletes, officials, our commercial andbroadcast partners, our preferred suppliers, the volunteers, the media and the fans, and I wish the very
best of luck to all participating teams!
Whether you will follow the matches via broadcast, on Watch.Hockey, on social media or in the news, I
wish you to enjoy all the action from this thrilling first edition of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup!
Yours in Hockey,
Tayyab Ikram
FIH President

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ABOUT THE FIH
HOCKEY NATIONS CUPThe FIH Hockey Nations Cup is a new annual tournament that involves some of the best hockey playing nations of the world and acts as a pathway to the FIH Hockey Pro League, to which it will introduce
a relegation/promotion axis, with the first placed team in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup replacing thebottom placed team in the FIH Hockey Pro League in the subsequent year.
The FIH Hockey Nations Cup features the best eight teams (by world rankings) that are not a part of the
FIH Hockey Pro League, in both men’s and women’s competitions. The eight teams are split into two
pools of four teams each, with the top two teams in each pool proceeding to the semi-finals, while thebottom two teams from each pool will play for 5-8 place classification.
The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will run from 28 November to 4 December in Potchefstroom, South
Africa, and will be followed shortly by the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup, which will run from 11 to 17
December in Valencia, Spain.
The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022 match schedule, including match timings isavailable here.
The FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup Spain 2022 match schedule, including match timings isavailable here.
More information about the FIH Hockey Pro League can be found here.

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COMPETITION FORMATThe following information has been taken from Appendix 8 of ‘FIH Top Tier Tournament Regulations’..
More information about all FIH competition regulations can be found at the following link:
http://www.fih.ch/media/13546876/fih-top-tier-tournament-regulations.pdf

1. PLAN OF THE COMPETITION
1.1 There will be two pools, each comprising four teams.
1.2 The two pools will be composed as follows based on the FIH World Ranking as at the datewhen the match schedule is initially drafted:
			
POOL A
			
			
			
			

POOL B
1		
4		
5		
8		

2
3
6
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1.3 If one or more team(s) does not participate, a reserve team(s), if called upon, will, in principle,
take the place of the defaulting team(s). FIH reserves the right to exercise an unfettered discretion to re-arrange the composition of the pools prior to the Event Briefing.

2. RANKING IN THE POOLS
2.1 The ranking in a pool is determined according to Appendix 3 (mentioned below)

3. CLASSIFICATION MATCHES
3.1 The winners and runners-up of the pools will play in the semi-finals as set out in Article 3.5
below.
3.2 The teams that finish 3rd and 4th in the pools will play for 5th to 8th places.
3.3 The semi-finals will be as follows although the matches will not necessarily be played in this
order
				
1st Pool Av
2nd Pool B				
1st Pool Bv
2nd Pool A
The winners of these matches will play for 1st and 2nd places (the final) and the losers will play for3rd and 4th places43.4 The 5th to 8th place matches will be as follows:
				
				

3rd Pool A
3rd Pool Bvv

4th Pool B
4th Pool A

The winners of these matches will play for 5th and 6th places and the losers will play for 7th and8th places
3.5 The score at the end of the regulation time of these matches will be registered by FIH as theresult of the match.
3.6 If at the end of the regulation time the result of a classification match is a draw, in orderto establish an outright winner of a classification match for the purpose of the competition, ashoot-out competition as specified in Appendix 10 will be played to establish the winner of thematch.

RANKING IN A POOL
1. In each pool, all the teams will play against each other, and the following points will be awarded
for each match:• three points to the winner;• one point to each team, in the event of a draw;• no points to the loser.
2. In each pool, teams will be ranked according to the number of points each has accumulated in
the competition.
a. If at the end of the pool matches two or more teams have the same number of points for any
place in a pool, these teams will be ranked according to their respective number of matcheswon.
b. If there remains equality among two or more teams, then these teams will be ranked according to their respective goal difference (which means “goals for” less “goals against”). A
positive goal difference always takes precedence over a negative one.
c. If there still remains equality among two or more teams, then these teams will be ranked
according to their respective number of “goals for”’.
d. Should there still remain equality among two teams, then the result of the match played
between those teams will determine the ranking of the tied teams.
e. If more than two teams are involved, then a ranking based upon the results of the matches
among (only) them shall determine their respective position, based upon the points awarded inaccordance with Article 1 of this appendix. If there remains equality, then the teams involved
shall be ranked according to Articles 2.a, b, c, and d of this Appendix.

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f. If there still remains equality among two or more teams, then these teams will be ranked
according to the number of Field Goals scored in the pool matches.
g. Should there still remain equality among two teams, then the ranking will be determined bya shoot-out competition between those teams (for details see Appendix 10 of these Regulations).
h. If more than two teams are involved, then each team will play a shoot-out competition
against the other teams in the same sequence of play as the order of play in the competition,in accordance with Appendix 10 of these Regulations but with one round of 5 shoot-outs only
to be taken compulsorily by each team.
i. A ranking will then be established based upon the results of the round of the shoot-out competition only, with the award for each play of 3 points to the team having scored the highest
number of goals, 1 point to each team having scored an equal number of goals and 0 points tothe team having scored the lowest number of goals.
j. If equality remains then teams having an equal number of points shall be ranked according
to Articles 2.a, b, c and d as applied to goals recorded during the shoot-out competition.
k. If an equal position of three (or more) teams still remains thereafter, then the same procedure shall be repeated until the teams can be ranked. The Technical Delegate shall make adraw to establish each sequence of play if such further rounds of shoot-outs are required.

MATCH SCHEDULE
To see the match schedule, please click here.

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PROMOTION/
RELEGATION
The aim of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup, which is a new yearly event, is to offer a top-level competition
to the best-ranked teams not participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League and give the winning teamthe chance to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League the next season, precisely.
Therefore, the FIH Hockey Nations Cup marks the start of the promotion-relegation principle for the
FIH Hockey Pro League, with the winning team of the first FIH Hockey Nations Cup having the chance
to be promoted to the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League (provided they meet the necessary requirements for it), replacing the team that finishes in the last place at the end of the FIH Hockey Pro League
season 2022-23.

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TEAMS
Below you will find some general information as well as the squad lists for the teams that will compete
in each pool at the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022. All squad information correct attime of publication. To see complete and up-to-date squad lists for each team competing in Potchefstroom, please click here.

POOL AFRANCEIRELANDPAKISTAN
SOUTH AFRICA

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FRANCE
Current World Ranking: 11

About the team: France are a team on the rise building up a young squad aiming to reach the very topof the sport by the time the Olympic Games Paris 2024 come around. France played in the FIH Hockey
Pro League in the 2021-22 season, in place of Australia who had to pull out due to the pandemic-enforced travel restrictions, and produced great hockey. Their high points came in the impressive wins
against India, Argentina and South Africa through the course of the tournament, where they finished in
the eighth position.
France qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years in 2018 and will make it two appearances in a row, having qualified for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela.
The French team has a great mix of youth and experience with sturdy veterans in defence and midfield
including goalkeeper Arthur Thieffry and long-time defensive stalwarts, Jean-Baptiste Forgues andcaptain Victor Charlet. Simon Martin-Brisac, Viktor Lockwood and François Goyet with more than 400
caps between them make up one of the most experienced midfield trios in international hockey. The
French attack is already potent with young strikers Timothée Clément and Benjamin Marqué, both 22,
providing ample support to the experienced duo of Gaspard Baumgarten and Blaise Rogeau.
One to watch: Timothée Clément
Timothée Clément was voted the Rising Star of the year 2021-22 at the FIH Hockey Stars Awards
earlier in the year and it was a thoroughly deserved recognition for the brilliance the young Frenchmanhas displayed over the past year. Clément captained his side to a first bronze medal at the FIH Hockey
Men’s Junior World Cup in December 2021, scoring 14 goals in 6 games and followed that up with animpressive FIH Hockey Pro League campaign, adding another 6 goals to his international tally. Clément
has an eye for a goal and is equally adept at scoring from open play as he is at scoring from penalty
corners, and his performance may well prove to be the catalyst to a French surge at the Nations Cup.
Website https://www.ffhockey.org/
Twitter @FF_Hockey
Instagram @francehockey
FIH Nations Cup team page click here

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IRELAND
Current World Ranking: 13

About the team: Ireland come into the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup on the back of a second-placed
finish at the EuroHockey Championship Qualifiers B 2022, missing out on qualification to the top
division. The team that beat them to the top division qualification was France, winning their head-tohead match-up 4-1. In the other two games however, Ireland produced impressive hockey winning 9-0
against Turkey and a 19-0 win against Latvia, which was their biggest ever margin for victory in international hockey. Ireland are known for their hell-for-leather hockey style and on their day, are easily
capable of out-scoring any opponent.
Ireland are searching for consistency on the international stage, with their performances over the
past couple of years littered with impressive wins and disappointing losses. They are a young team,with just two players over the age of 30 in their squad for the FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup. Youth andaggression can produce dynamic attacking hockey, but they have to be cautious of defensive lapses
given the quality of attack of their opponents in the tournament. Captain Sean Murray is one of two
players with more than 100 caps on the team and will have to continue playing the catalyst role for bothdefence and offence in the middle of the field.
One to watch: : Sean O’Donoghue
Sean O’Donoghue is the most experienced player in Ireland’s squad for the Nations Cup and hisgoalscoring record throughout his career has been incredible. With 200 caps to his name and 103
goals, he averages more than a goal every two games, and despite the emergence of young new attacking talent like John McKee and Ben Walker, O’Donoghue remains Ireland’s biggest threat going
forward.
Website: https://hockey.ie/
Twitter: @irishhockey
Instagram: @hockey_ireland
FIH Nations Cup team page: click here

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PAKISTAN
Current World Ranking: 17

About the team: Very few teams can boast of a history that can rival that of the Pakistan hockey team.
3 Olympic gold medals and 4 gold medals at the FIH Hockey World Cups makes them one of the mostsuccessful nations in international hockey. But with their last major international success coming
nearly three decades ago, Pakistan are currently in a rebuilding phase. A 5th-place finish in the Asia
Cup 2022, 7th place finish in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and a bronze medal in the
recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022, shows the inconsistent nature of the young team’s
performance, but the one constant for Pakistan is their unwavering resolve to play an attacking andentertaining style of hockey.
Pakistan’s squad for the Nations Cup is filled with youngsters, with captain Umar Bhutta the most experienced player with 193 caps. The player with the next highest caps is Abdul Rana with just 26 caps!
13 of the 20 players in the squad have yet to reach double digits games played for Pakistan. With young
players filled with hunger to prove themselves and give Pakistan the chance to make it to the biggest
stage of FIH Hockey Pro League for the 2023/24 season, Pakistan will be a team to watch out for!
One to watch: Abdul Rana
Abdul Rana’s star is massively on the rise in Pakistan. Rana burst on to the international hockey stage
at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2021, where he captained the Pakistan team, scoring 7 goalsin 6 games. Since then he has been called up to the Pakistan senior team 22 times and has managed toscore 10 times already, easily adapting to the step up into the senior level.
Website: https://pakhockey.org/
Twitter: @PHFOfficial
Instagram: @phfofficial
FIH Nations Cup team page: click here11

SOUTH AFRICA
Current World Ranking: 16

About the team: South Africa have been the dominant force in African hockey, but the recent signs
suggest that they are ready to start challenging on a global scale.
2022 has been a year of growth for the South African team, which started off with a dominant display
at the Africa Cup of Nations 2022, where a gold medal assured them of a qualification for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela. This was followed by their debut appearance
in the FIH Hockey Pro League, in place of New Zealand. While the young South African team looked
outmatched in the early phase of their Pro League campaign, they started to grow into their own andimproved rapidly towards the back end of the tournament, putting up fighting displays against Germany, France, England and pulling off a draw against Argentina.
South Africa’s progress was evident from their performance at the Birmingham 2022 CommonwealthGames, where they made it all the way to the semi-finals and finished in an impressive fourth placeahead of the likes of New Zealand and Pakistan. The Cassiem brothers are the heart and soul of theSouth African attack, and their direct approach in attack often leads to some spectacular goals. South
Africa are equally dangerous from the penalty corners with Matthew Guise-Brown, their go-to dragflicker, often leaving opposition goalkeepers stranded with his hard low drag flicks!
One to watch: : Gowan Jones
Gowan Jones is the wall of the South African defence, and constantly keeps them in the game with hisincredible goalkeeping. His positioning and movements come to the forefront when opposition attackers get behind the South African defence, but his greatest assets are his reflexes, which help him pulloff blinders while facing penalty corners. It takes something special to beat Gowan Jones, and while hekeeps opponents’ attacks at bay, it allows his team’s attack to commit more players forward in searchof goals.
Website: https://www.sahockey.co.za/
Twitter: @SA_Hockey
Instagram: @sahockey_
FIH Nations Cup team page: click here

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TEAMS
POOL B
CANADA
JAPAN
KOREA
MALAYSIA

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CANADA
Current World Ranking: 14

About the team: Canada are the only team in Pool B that come from outside the Asian continent, butthat might prove to be an advantage for them given the unfamiliarity their opponents will have to their
game.
Canada has lived in the shadow of Argentina when it comes to hockey in the Americas. In the 2022 Pan
Am Cup they lost to Argentina in the semi-finals and had to settle for a bronze medal. The Nations Cup
offers them an opportunity to step out of those shadows and make their mark on international hockey.
Canada’s performance in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games was below their expectations
as they finished in eighth place. They displayed a lot of passion and heart against higher ranked opponents, but goal scoring is an aspect they struggled with, even when they had dominant phases during
the games. The return of ace drag flicker Gordon Johnston should help in that department. He will becapably supported by veterans Matthew Sarmento, Taylor Curran and Brenden Brissett, along with theyoung talent of Fin Boothroyd and Brendan Guraliuk.
One to watch: : Gordon Johnston
Gordon Johnston was the top goal scorer at the 2022 Pan Am Cup with 10 goals in 6 games, but hemissed out on the Commonwealth Games, and his absence was keenly felt by his team as they struggled to convert penalty corner opportunities. With Japan, Korea and Malaysia all very adept at keepingtight defences, penalty corners might offer Canada the best route of scoring; and the return of Gordon
Johnston is exactly the boost they need to unlock their opponents’ defences!
Website: https://fieldhockey.ca/
Twitter: @FieldHockeyCan
Instagram: @fieldhockeycan
FIH Nations Cup team page: click here

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JAPAN
Current World Ranking: 18

About the team: Over the past 2 years Japan have played in four major events; Olympic Games Tokyo
2020, Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2021, Hero Asia Cup 2022 and Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022. Theirresults from these four events have been 11th at the Olympics, 2nd in the Asian Champions Trophy, 4th
in the Asia Cup and 4th at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Japan have the ability to stop any opponent andput in top performances, but their search for consistency at the top level of hockey continues.
Japan will field one of the most experienced squads in the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2022, witheight players having represented the national team more than 100 times. Experience of playing multiple big tournaments will bode well for them, but there is also a sense of familiarity with the team that
their continental rivals Korea and Malaysia can look to take advantage of. Japan will be led by theirlong-term captain Seren Tanaka, who helps Japan control the midfield and plays the anchor role toperfection. Japanese miserly defence is the bedrock of their style of play and veteran defenders Masaki Ohashi and Shota Yamada play a hugely important role in keeping opposition attacks at bay. Kenta
Tanaka is the most dangerous scoring outlet for Japan, and is also one of the most experienced players in the squad with 166 caps wherein he has scored 80 goals!
One to watch: : Koji Yamasaki
Koji Yamasaki, at just 26 years of age, has already been capped 111 times by Japan. He performs a dualrole with the team playing as a forward, where his playmaking instincts are just as crucial as his ability
to score goals. He played a crucial role in Japan’s gold medal victory at the 2018 Asian Games, scoring
5 times, including a 4th quarter goal against Malaysia in the finals, and a goal in the ensuing shootout,
where Japan were victorious and won their first ever gold medal at the Asian Games. With great experience on the big stage as he enters his prime, Yamasaki looks ready to take the next step up towards
becoming a hockey superstar.
Website: hockey.or.jp
Twitter: @japan_hockey
Instagram: @japan.hockey
FIH Nations Cup team page
click here

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KOREA
Current World Ranking: 12

About the team: Korea have been amongst the best performing teams in Asia over the past two decades with a long list of honours, including an Olympic silver medal, four Asian Games gold medals, fivegold medals at the Asia Cup, and a gold medal at the Asian Champions Trophy in 2021. The FIH Hockey
Men’s Nations Cup presents Korea a great chance to build on all their recent success and join the best
teams in the world in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 to further become a global force in hockey.
The Korean squad has a wealth of experience with 7 of their senior players combining for over a 1000
international caps! Leading from the front is Jonghyun Jang with 304 caps wherein he has scored 109
goals! Namyong Lee, who frequently captains the team has been capped 291 times and while he playsin the midfield, his goalscoring record is also impressive, with 45 international goals to his name. Goalkeeper Jaehyeon Kim is another important cog in the Korean wheel, and his excellent shootout record
is something opponents will be wary of, in the latter stages of the tournament.
One to watch: :Byungjin Jeon
Byungjin Jeon comes into the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup in red hot form having scored 4 goals
for Korea in the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022. All 4 of his goals came from penalty
corners, an area where Korea have had difficulty in the past. If Jeon can be Korea’s answer to scoring
via penalty corners, then it will help Korea overcome one of their bigger challenges, and truly challenge
for the title at the Nations Cup.
Website: www.koreahockey.co.kr
Twitter: N/A
Instagram: @koreahockey
FIH Nations Cup team page: click here16

MALAYSIA
Current World Ranking: 10

About the team: Malaysia will come into the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022 as thehighest ranked team and a team in red hot form, having won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022, merely
3 weeks before the start of the tournament! If they can translate their recent form into the Nations
Cup, then they will be the early favourites to win it all and make it to the FIH Hockey Pro League for the2023/24 season.
Malaysia have always been known for playing a free-flowing attacking style of hockey, but in recent
times have stepped it up further, with the team committing to an all-out attacking style that may leave
the defence exposed at times, but banks on their ability to score more goals than they let in. Malaysia
scored 16 goals in the pool stage of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, while no other team reached double
digits! But they also conceded 7 more goals than Korea, who had the best defence. However, in the
finals where the two teams met, Malaysia won 3-2 proving that their commitment to attack has theability to pay off in the big knockout games.
Malaysian attack is deadly from open play as well as set pieces. Shello Silverius has found his footingin the senior level and the goals have started to flow for him. Silverius has been a highly rated prospectsince his days as a junior hockey player, and the wait for him to get going at the senior level has been
well worth it. His speed and ability to get a shot away from any angle make him a lethal weapon in the
Malaysian attack, and even when he can’t get the ball into the goal, his trickery on the ball allows him to
win plenty of penalty corners for Malaysia.
One to watch: Razie Rahim
Razie Rahim recently reached the 300 cap milestone for Malaysia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022,
but he seems to keep getting better with age. He was the top goal scorer in the tournament with 6
goals, as opposition keepers struggled to read which way he would go with his vicious penalty corners.
With 107 goals in international hockey Rahim comes into the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup as one of
the best attacking threats, and combined with Silverius’ ability to win Malaysia plenty of penalty corners, their opponents have to be extra wary of the Malaysian goalscoring threats.
Website: https://mhc.org.my/
Twitter: @hockeymalaysia
Instagram@malaysianhockeyconfederation
FIH Nations Cup team page: click here

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WHERE TO WATCH HOW TO SUPPORT
Please help us raise awareness and attractiveness of this new event among fans, media, broadcasters,commercial partners and all our hockey stakeholders.

EVENT WEBSITE
nationscup.hockey

BROADCAST AND LIVE STREAMING
We are pleased to confirm that ALL matches of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022
will be available live via the Watch.Hockey app, anywhere in the world.
FIH broadcast partners SABC and Supersport will also show the matches in their respective
territories. See full information here.

SOCIAL MEDIAThe FIH will provide comprehensive coverage of the event via our social media channels, including
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We encourage the hockey communicate to help promote this eventon the respective digital channels. Do not hesitate to share, comment and repost.

HASHTAG#FIHNationsCup

BRANDING AND COMMUNICATION
You can request the logo and any other graphic to media@fih.hockey

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